46 look for ways to while away the ti111e. Soon after twilight, they would gather at Zise Feige's house to hear the Dyb- buk's talk and to marvel at his an- tics. Zise FeIge forbade them to annoy her daughtel, but the curiosity of the townspeople was so great that they would break the door open and enter. 'rhe Dybbuk knew everyone and had words for each 111an according to his position and conduct. Most of the tÍ1ne, he heaped mud and ashes upon the respected leaders of the C0111- 111unity and their wives. He told each one exactly what he was: a 111iser or a "wintUer, a sycophant or a beggar, a slattern or a snob, an idler or a grahher. \Vith the horse traders he talked about horses, and with the butchers about oxen. He reminded Chaim the Miller that he had hung a weight under the scale on which he weighed the flour mined for the peasants. He questioned \ 1 : , ^' .\- t , , '/ t 1j - '. \ J , . ",\ "^ . . 5..:. '< ,ç ''Ii '" .. ='\. .. ^1< ,..ø 'it " ,. If. ., I" - 'ri< i , -., .^ \ "! Y ukele the l--hief about hIs latest theft. His jests and his jibes provoked both astonishment and laughter. Even the older folk could not keep fro111 smil- ing. 1"he Dybbuk knew things that no stranger could have known, and it becall1e clear to the visitors that they were dealing with a soul from which nothing could be hidden, for it saw through all their secrets. Although the evil spirit put everyone to shame, each man was willing to suffer his own hUlniliation for the sake of seeing oth- ers humbled. \\Then the Dybbuk tired of exposing the sins of the townsfolk, he would tln n to recitals of his own Inisdeeds. Not an evening passed without revela- tions of new vices. The l)ybbuk c.:-l]]ed t ') \Iv Þ!: 0:ß-- - - I .\ /6\ t r- ..' ) y,' î "" i G' V \ .. , -t< :l _J 4 j.'* .. , /. .- i 1...,;--" " <, t j , î , !" .; v à 11>..0- )Y , .. .Þ -," ; If I Ii> $ , , '..' (' & ) y P k# 'f >.! \ ' l > 4. , \" .. . <t --+ .. -- ,..,,- 'f t .Þ- \ .. .. ,I #- "* \ y , '.. t: , " . $ #' '<'I A of '" .. t t. .j ",,' ' if 4' "'^ Ä. ^ . , -"-:(" y .<o . - ""-f ' ,""y' "--:i:.. ....:: ,,' 'i\. .., ... '{ "Oops! I must go down to the seas again." cvervthing bv its na111e, denying noth- ing. "'Then he was asked whether he regretted his abomInatIons, he sdid with a laugh, "l\nd if I did, could anything be changed? Everything IS recorded up above. For eating a single worlny plum, you get six hundred and eighty-nine lashes. For a single mo- 111ent of lust, )' ou're roned for a week on a bed of nails." Between one jest and another, he would sing and bleat and pIa} out tunes so skillfully that no one living could vie with him. One evenIng, the teacher's wife came runnIng to the rabbi and reported that people were dancing to the Dyb- buk's music. l"he rabbi put on his robe and his hat and hurried to the house. Y e<;, the lnen and WOlnen danced together in Zise Feige's kitch- en. 'rhe rabbi berated them and warned that they were comlnitting a sacrilege. He sternly forbade lise FeJge to allow the rabble in to her house. But Zise Feige lay sick in bed, and her boy, 'rsadock Me} er, was staying with rela- tives. As soon as the rabbi left, the idlers resumed their dancing-a Scissors l)ance, a Quarrel I)ance, a Cossack l)ance, a "Vater Dance. It went on till Inidnight, whe11 the J)ybbuk gave out a snore, and Liebe Yentl fen asleep. ./. \ few days later, there was c:l new rU1110r In town: a sec- ond I)ybbuk had entered Lie- be Yentl, this time a fe111ale one. Once 1110re an avid crowd packed the house. And, indeed, a woman's voice now Cc:l111e froln Liebe Yen tl-not her own gentle voice but the hoarse croaking of a shrew. People askLd the new I))' b- buk who she was, and she told the111 that her name was Be} le Tslove and that she ca111e from the town of Plock, where she had been a barmclÍd in a tavern and had later be- C0111e a whore. Beyle Tslove spoke diffcl- entl} from Getsl the Fiddler, with the flat accents of her region clnd a 111ixture of Gel- lnclnized words unknown in Shidlovtse. Be} le Tslove's lan- guage 111ade even the butch- el s clnd the cOlnbers of pigs' bnstles blush. She sang ribald songs and soldiers' ditties. She said she had wandered for cigh ty years i11 waste places. She had been reincarnated as J J